Local man sounds like Elvis, feels like a patriot

LOCAL MAN AND MUSICAN David Grimes recorded the song 'Red White & Blues' in honor of the soldiers in Iraq and the families who wait for them back home.

Contributed Photo David Grimes sounds like Elvis and travels for his job as a national accounts manager for an electricity company. He meets a lot of soldiers who have been in Iraq and talks to people who are waiting anxiously at home for them. He watches television news reports of the young men and women being killed in service every day.

"But I hadn't seen anything patriotic," he said. So he wrote a song.

Recorded locally at Eclipse Studios, "Red White & Blues" has a mournful jazzy feeling and lyrics that recount the stories of some of the people Grimes has come in contact with.

"Bartender proudly shows us a picture of her son/Decked out in his uniform, even holding up a gun/No doubt the real heroes are those on the front line/Please remember the love(sic) ones left far behind."

"This song pays tribute to people behind the lines as well as the soldiers," he said.

The families of soldiers often suffer as much as those doing the fighting, he said, "and we don't stop and think about that."

Grimes has been writing and performing songs for many years, mostly for charity events to benefit the needy. He had a brush with fame in 1984 when he recorded the song "Toyboy," a tribute to Elvis that got airplay in Tallahassee and regionally.

"Red White & Blues" has been a much harder sell, he said.

"I can't get anyone to listen to it," said Grimes, who has approached radio and television stations in the area but has gotten only negative responses.

"I would really like someone else to record it," he said, someone with some star power who might be able to spread his message.